# Rearing-induced Plasticity and Incentive Motivation for Ethanol

> **NIH NIH P20** · KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $232,065

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
A characteristic of alcoholism is an increased incentive motivation for ethanol. Incentive motivation is
comprised of the motivation to respond for ethanol and the hedonic value of ethanol. Early drinking
onset is correlated with an earlier onset of alcoholism, a stronger severity of alcohol dependence, and
increased deficits in neuronal microstructure. While drinking rates in males and females are relatively
similar during adolescence, exposure to ethanol during adolescence results in more damage to the
neuronal microstructure in females while more males develop alcohol-use disorders in adulthood. In
rodents, differential rearing environments during childhood and adolescence result in plasticity-
dependent neuronal changes. These neuronal changes impact a variety of behaviors, including the
response to ethanol. Rearing rats in an enriched condition decreases responding for ethanol in operant
ethanol self-administration when compared to rats raised in an isolated or standard condition. The
overarching goal of the proposed experiments is to determine if differential rearing-induced plasticity
alters the integrity of the neuronal microstructure to affect both the hedonic value and the incentive
salience for ethanol in adulthood. It is hypothesized that rearing male and female rats in an enriched
environment will decrease hedonic responses to ethanol when compared to rearing male and female
rats in an isolated or standard environment. The proposed experiments will also determine if differential
rearing during intermittent adolescent ethanol exposure can alter the hedonic value and incentive
salience for ethanol in adulthood. It is predicted that enrichment during adolescent ethanol exposure
will protect against the increased risk for alcoholism in adulthood in both male and female rats. The
proposed experiments will then examine how differential rearing during adolescent ethanol exposure
alters the neuronal microstructure using diffusion tension imaging. It is predicted that rearing in an
enriched environment will protect against the deleterious effects of ethanol exposure in adolescence
when compared to rats reared in an isolated or social condition. We further predict that sex will alter the
effects of adolescent ethanol exposure on neuronal microstructure integrity and therefore female
isolated rats will have the most damage to the neuronal microstructure as a result of adolescent ethanol
exposure. Completion of the project will determine that differential rearing alters incentive motivation for
ethanol due to alterations of neuronal microstructure integrity. Development of this model will provide
us the ability to test behavioral and neurobiological changes that result from adolescent ethanol
exposure in a preclinical model system that results in divergent outcomes for both plasticity and ethanol
sensitivity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9947944
- **Project number:** 5P20GM113109-04
- **Recipient organization:** KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Mary Eileen Cain
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $232,065
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9947944

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9947944, Rearing-induced Plasticity and Incentive Motivation for Ethanol (5P20GM113109-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9947944. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*